DID I GET THE GREEN LIGHT?
Ok, so on Monday morning I went to her mailbox to see if my card was still there. It was, but the envelop had been opened, which means that she had read the card and left it in her mailbox. I had the feeling that she didn't want to take the card home because she wasn't sure who it was from. I got pessimistic about the whole thing at that point, but I went through the trouble of going to work super-early, so I may as well finish the job. I wrote my name in the card. But then I realize that she would be creeped out when she finds out I went back into her mailbox, so I had to attached a sticky and wrote a full explanation: that I got nervous and ended up writing my initials, etc. Hence it was a full confirmation that I was interested in her (and remember that she was already pretty sure of that anyway).
For 2 days, I didn't see her. I even found out that she took a day off the day after she got the card, though I don't know if it had anything to do with the card (but she last month had also taken a day off on the day after she first heard from other colleagues that I was interested her). Then yesterday, we ended up in the same room by accident. I had no idea how she felt about the card, so I just laid low and went about my business in the room, not saying hi to her unless I knew she wanted me to. Then it happened. She called out my name in a jovial manner and said thank-you for the card. I hesitantly said you're welcome, still not sure if she was just being polite or not. After a few minutes, she then approached me and started making conversation (it was also the first time ever that she approached me to talk). And for the first time, she asked personal questions about me. First she asked what happened to my legs, and I told her that I had an accident and was getting better. She seemed pleased that I was down to just one crutch now. Then the conversation flowed on and on, without any lull, and she asked me more personal questions, with a smile here and there and jovial look throughout. She seemed very relaxed and comfortable throughout and gave full eye contact. In the end, I asked her a question to test out my chances. I told her that the boss asked me to pair up with someone outside my department to discuss some strategies, and asked her if she would like to pair up with me. She knew that I knew many more people outside my department better than I knew her, and that I was asking her only because of my interest in her. Nevertheless, she said yes immediately.
So did I get the green light from her to ask her out? She kind of assured me that she is not uncomfortable about my leg problems by telling me a story about her knee injury in the past. She asked me if I played a musical instrument and I told her I played classical music on piano. So, if I do ask her out, I'm thinking of telling her about the Chopin exhibition at the ROM, that I would be interested in seeing his original scores and stuff, and that I was wondering if she would like to come with me. This is following the earlier advice of asking her out to an art gallery. Now our 2-week holiday has begun and I didn't ask for her phone number, so if I do this I was thinking the first week when we get back to work. Sounds good? I was told by a friend that if I don't ask her out or wait too long to do so she may start to think that I lost interest or something else bad, ruining whatever chances I may have developed. Did I put myself in the position where I must ask her out now and she expects it?